High octane gasoline is needed for modern gasoline engines. Previously, octane numbers were often improved by incorporating various lead-containing additives into the gasoline. As lead-containing additives have been phased out of gasoline for environmental reasons, it has become increasingly necessary to rearrange the structure of the hydrocarbons used in gasoline blending to achieve higher octane ratings. Catalytic reforming of hydrocarbons is a process widely used by refiners for upgrading the octane ratings of gasoline.
In catalytic reforming, a hydrocarbon feedstock of, for example, C5 hydrocarbons to about C11 hydrocarbons, is contacted with a reforming catalyst to convert at least a portion of the heavier hydrocarbons to aromatic hydrocarbons to increase the octane content of gasoline. The catalytic reforming of the heavier hydrocarbons to produce a reformate that includes aromatic hydrocarbons also produces significant quantities of valuable hydrogen and lighter hydrocarbons, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) containing primarily C3 and C4 hydrocarbons. Refiners are looking for ways to maximize the recovery of reforming products, such as reformate, hydrogen and LPG, from the reforming reactor effluent.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide apparatuses and methods for reforming of hydrocarbons with improved recovery of products from a reforming-zone effluent. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.